Louisiana governor's race in 2015: Three similarities among the candidates

The three candidates currently running in Louisiana's gubernatorial election in 2015 aren't known for what they have in common.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., takes a hard-line approach to attacking Democrats like Barack Obama, hammering the president on everything from illegal immigration to the U.S. prisoner of war swap. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne is considered more of a centrist Republican, one who has spent his time in statewide office focusing on Louisiana's tourism and marketing efforts.

And state Rep. John Bel Edwards, the only Democrat in the race, turned his energy during the spring lawmaking session to slowing or blocking Gov. Bobby Jindal's plans to privatize various portions of the state government, notably Louisiana's government-run hospitals.

Yet for all of their differences, the three candidates do share a few points in common. The following are three things you can expect from the men running to be Louisiana's governor in 2015.

All three candidates are likely to embrace Medicaid expansion in some form.

Even Vitter, the most conservative of the gubernatorial candidates, has left the door open to accepting federal funding to expand the Medicaid program in Louisiana. The extra money would be used to provide government health care coverage to more of the state's poor who don't currently qualify for the benefit.

Medicaid expansion -- a key provision in President Barack Obama's health care reform plan -- has generally been opposed by Republicans. But recently, some conservative state governors have started to embrace it, particularly since Medicaid expansion is almost entirely funded by the federal government in its early years.

Both Dardenne and Vitter said they might be willing to accept Medicaid funding in Louisiana, so long as they had were able to have a fair amount of control over how the money was used. Neither Republican wants to use the extra federal dollars to expand the Medicaid program as it functions today.

Recently, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, also a Republican, crafted his own Medicaid expansion, one that enrolled the newly eligible Medicaid clients into private insurance instead of the traditional Medicaid program. Vitter or Dardenne may try to pursue something similar.

In an interview, Dardenne said it would also be important for Louisiana to be able to get out of Medicaid expansion if the program ended up costing the state too much money. "If the federal funding decreased, we need the ability for the state to exit the plan," he said.

Edwards, for his part, has already pushed for Louisiana to embrace traditional Medicaid expansion as outlined by Obama's health care reform. As a legislator, he has introduced bills that would have required the state to accept the extra federal funding to insure the poor.

"I have introduced [Medicaid expansion bills] because I believe it is the right thing to do," he said while appearing at Baton Rouge Press Club.

Any of three men's approaches to Medicaid expansion would be a departure from the one taken by Jindal, who has refused to take the extra federal funding. Jindal has said Medicaid expansion -- which is mostly covered by federal funding but would require some state backing eventually -- would end up costing Louisiana too much money.

All three candidates oppose abortion rights.

As a member of the U.S. Congress, Vitter has voted 72 out of 72 times to restrict abortion, according to the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. The Senator has introduced a few abortion-related bills in the past, including a measure that would ban taxpayer funds from paying for administrative costs and other services offered by abortion providers.

Dardenne is also against abortion. He voted mostly in favor of anti-abortion legislation during his time as a state lawmaker from 1992 to 2006. As lieutenant governor, he has given 100 percent anti-abortion answers to annual survey given by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation.

But if elected, Edwards said further cracking down on abortion in Louisiana wouldn't necessarily be a priority, particularly because the state already has strict regulations.

"We have [some of the] toughest abortion laws on the books in the country. I think it is more important to spend my time coming up with new and inventive ways to solve other problems," he said.

All three candidates are running against Jindal.

None of the candidates wants to be associated with Jindal or the current governor's record. Jindal's approval ratings in Louisiana have been low in a few recent polls.

During a speech in Baton Rouge last month, Vitter made several critical comments about Jindal, implying that the governor has put his own presidential ambitions before the good of Louisiana.

"This is will be my last political job, elected or appointed, period," said Vitter, indirectly referencing Jindal's national campaign.

Edwards took several direct shots at the governor -- particularly about the way Jindal has managed the Louisiana's finances -- during his press club appearance. "The governor is running this state like a Ponzi scheme," he said.

Finally, Dardenne criticized Jindal this week overstepping his bounds when it comes to the Common Core dispute. The governor is trying to use his authority over the state procurement process to block the Common Core standardized assessment.

"It is an executive overreach in my view," said Dardenne about the governor's approach to the Common Core issue.